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For an easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love, try this simple 20-minute Sausage Pasta recipe.
It’s the perfect comfort food made with frankfurter sausages, red onion, tomato passata, heavy cream, and peas.
This flavorful dish reheats easily and is great for meal prep. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and finely chopped basil!
Recipe Tip
Enjoy the pasta dish hot or cold, for lunch or dinner, too!
Sausage Pasta Ingredients
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details!
- Pasta: I use fusilli, but you can use penne, fettuccini, macaroni, and spaghetti (to name a few).
- Sausage: I prefer Frankfurter hotdogs (which are pre-cooked).
- Butter: Use a knob of salted or unsalted butter to sauté the onions and sausages.
- Red onion: Choose red, yellow, or white onions, or even shallots.
- Passata: Forms the basis of the tomato sauce.
- Heavy cream: Balances all the flavors and makes the sauce extra creamy and rich.
- Frozen peas: I use frozen peas for convenience all year round.
Recipe Tip
Add a squeeze of balsamic glaze or maple syrup if the tomato sauce is tart or lacks flavor.
How to Make Sausage Pasta
- Prepare the ingredients: Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Heat butter in a large frying pan on medium heat. Sauté the onions. Chop the sausages.
- Add sausages to the pan and fry until cooked through and golden brown.
- Pour in the passata until it simmers, and then the cream.
- Top the sauce with the cooked pasta, frozen peas, and season well. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh basil.
Serving Suggestion
I love to top the finished dish with pomegranate arils for a bit of sweetness.
Possible Variations
- Pasta: Use whatever pasta you have on hand, or try orzo, basmati rice, brown rice, potatoes, or couscous.
- Red onion: Caramelize the onion first for even more flavor!
- Sausage: Swap for spicy sausages, chorizo, salsaccia, or sausages made from beef, lamb, chicken, or turkey. If the sausages are raw, be sure to cook them through.
- Tomato passata: A tin of tomato paste (add stock or water to make a sauce) or tinned tomatoes will also work perfectly. You can even omit the tomato and stick to the cream sauce.
- Heavy cream: Sour cream, Greek yogurt, half-and-half, and coconut milk are all great alternatives.
- Peas: Add any chopped veggies you like: corn, kale, broccoli, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, or zucchini.
- Add-ins: Minced garlic cloves, Italian seasoning, white wine, lemon juice, roasted pine nuts, red pepper flakes, or fresh chili for spice.
How to Store Leftovers
Store in a large glass container in the fridge and enjoy within 2 days.
FAQs
If you use a sausage you like, you’re bound to enjoy the finished dish. I love Frankfurter sausages (pork), but I’ve also tried chorizo and a spicy Italian sausage, which are delicious, too.
Absolutely!
Pasta needs a lot of liquid, so it’s best to cook it separately and then mix it with the sauce thereafter.
Add a knob of butter to a medium-sized pot and heat leftovers on medium heat. Pour in extra cream, as the pasta soaks up a bulk of the liquid and heat through.
Stir in a little water or pasta water to thin it out.
More Easy Meals
If you make this recipe or any other recipe on Foodbites, then I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment and rating below.
Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 300 grams pasta, fusilli
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 8 sausages, frankfurters, 480 grams
- 390 grams tomato passata
- 100 grams frozen peas
- 150 ml heavy cream
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, grated, to serve
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped, to serve
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions.
- Heat a large skillet (medium-high heat) and add a tablespoon of butter.
- Top the pan with the chopped red onion and fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Slice the sausages in 1cm chunks (0.4 inch) and add to the hot pan.
- Once the sausages are cooked through and slightly browned all over, add the tomato passata (about 8-10 minutes).
- Heat the tomato passata until it starts to simmer.
- Now, pour in the cream and heat through until it starts to thicken (about 2 minutes).
- Add the cooked, drained pasta, and frozen peas over low heat.
- When the peas are cooked through and sweet, season with sea salt and pepper (to taste).
- Top with Parmesan cheese and chopped basil.
- Serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
